DENVER—The most valuable campaign button that will emerge this political season may not even carry pictures of Barack Obama or John McCain.
It turns out the key to making political campaign buttons or other memorabilia valuable for collectors isn’t necessarily the candidates; it’s the quantity—the fewer, the better.
“I would look for state-specific items. I would look for items that were put out by special interest groups,” says Brian Krapf, president of the American Political Items Collectors. “Collectors like that because of the limited quantity.”
As thousands of people attend this week’s Democratic National Convention, they’ll be able to choose from countless buttons—Obama pictured alone or with his running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, or displaying slogans from silly to serious and a simple peace sign.
Others promote Democrats in Denver, the environmentally friendly message of the event or just the Mile High City itself.
Colorado delegates will wear a pin promoting the state as the host of the convention with the backdrop of a cowboy riding a horse in front of the Rockies.
Delegates heading to next week’s the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., will have a similar selection centered on their all-but-nominated candidate, McCain.
Political memorabilia has been around since George Washington became the nation’s first president but the first true populist campaign occurred during William Henry Harrison’s successful presidential bid in 1840, Krapf said.
The process to manufacture campaign buttons was patented in 1894 and first used in 1896 when Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan.
“There were many, many buttons made because the invention was new,” Krapf said. “You can pick up Bryan buttons that are over 100 years old for $30 or you can pick them up for $3,000 plus. It just depends on the scarcity of the item.”‘
Today, just about anything that can carry a picture or a slogan has been turned into a political trinket—banners, signs, posters, ribbons, badges, dishes and pens.
The buttons themselves became more complex with mechanical parts, blinking lights and sound. Krapf remembers one mechanical pin featuring Warren Harding—”you push a button and his hand pops up so he’s thumbing his nose.”
The rarest buttons come from the 1920 Democratic campaign of James M. Cox and his vice presidential candidate, Franklin Roosevelt.
Because of financial problems in the Democratic Party, only a few buttons were made featuring both candidates. Today, those are worth from $40,000 to $75,000 apiece, Krapf said.
“There may be 15 in the entire (collecting) hobby,” Krapf said. “Those are the rarest of the rare.”
Although it might not turn out to be the most valuable, the pin for Wyoming Democratic delegates this year may be one of the rarest—based on quantity.
Wyoming Democratic Party Chairman John Millin said Monday he was unaware pins were the currency of the realm and didn’t have any made for the occasion. A friend hastily rounded up Wyoming state pins for the delegation. “We have the non-pin pins,” Millin joked.
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Associated Press reporter Steven K. Paulson contributed to this report.
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